How to Migrate a Drupal Website into WordPress

Migrating a Drupal website to WordPress may seem like a daunting task, but with the right approach, it can be done efficiently. WordPress offers a user-friendly interface, extensive plugin support, and an active community, making it a popular choice for many website owners looking to move away from Drupal.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to successfully migrate a Drupal website into WordPress:

Step 1: Backup Your Drupal Website

Before starting the migration, ensure you back up your Drupal website to avoid data loss during the process.

How to Backup:

1. Export your database: Log in to your hosting control panel or use phpMyAdmin to export your Drupal database.
2. Backup files: Use an FTP client (like FileZilla) to download all files from your Drupal site’s root directory to your local machine.

Having a backup ensures that you can revert back in case anything goes wrong during the migration process.

Step 2: Set Up WordPress on Your New Hosting

Before migrating content from Drupal, you need to set up a fresh WordPress installation on your new hosting.

How to Set Up WordPress:

1. Choose hosting: If you don’t already have WordPress hosting, consider provider like AlexHost that offer optimized WordPress hosting.
2. Install WordPress: Most hosting services provide a one-click installation process for WordPress. Alternatively, you can manually install WordPress by downloading it from wordpress.org and following the installation steps.
3. Select a theme: Choose a WordPress theme that aligns with your site’s design or find one that you can customize later.

Step 3: Install the FG Drupal to WordPress Plugin

The FG Drupal to WordPress plugin simplifies the process of migrating content from Drupal to WordPress by automatically importing your content and media files.

How to Install the Plugin:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
3. Search for FG Drupal to WordPress and click Install Now.
4. After installation, click Activate to enable the plugin.

Step 4: Export Your Drupal Content

Before using the plugin, you need to gather the information necessary to export your Drupal content.

Steps:

1. Get Drupal Database Credentials:
   • Log in to your Drupal hosting panel and open phpMyAdmin.
   • Find your Drupal database and note down the following credentials:
     • Database name
     • Username
     • Password
     • Host (usually localhost)
2. Ensure Database Access: Make sure you have access to the database, as the plugin will need this information to import the content.

Step 5: Import Drupal Content into WordPress

Now that the plugin is installed and you have your Drupal database information, you can proceed with the migration.

Steps:

1. In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Tools > Import.
2. Scroll down and click Run Importer under Drupal (using the FG Drupal to WordPress plugin).
3. On the Importer Settings page, enter the Drupal database credentials (database name, user, password, host).
4. Test the connection to ensure that WordPress can connect to your Drupal database.
5. In the Behavior section, choose what content to import (posts, pages, categories, tags, etc.) and whether to download images and attachments.
6. Click Start / Resume the Importer to begin migrating the content from Drupal to WordPress.

The plugin will import your Drupal content (posts, pages, media, categories, tags, etc.) into WordPress. Depending on the size of your site, this may take a few minutes.

Step 6: Review and Reformat the Content

Once the content is migrated, you’ll need to review the website to ensure everything transferred correctly.

Steps:

1. Review Posts and Pages: Go to Posts and Pages in your WordPress dashboard and check if all content is present.
2. Check for Broken Links: Some internal links may be broken due to different URL structures between Drupal and WordPress. Use a plugin like Broken Link Checker to identify and fix broken links.
3. Reformat Content: The layout or formatting of certain elements may need adjustments due to differences between Drupal and WordPress. You can manually reformat posts and pages where necessary.

Step 7: Set Up Permalinks

Drupal and WordPress often have different URL structures. To preserve your SEO rankings and avoid broken links, it’s important to adjust your permalink structure in WordPress to match Drupal’s URLs or set up redirects.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Choose the custom permalink structure that closely matches your old Drupal site’s URLs.
3. If needed, install the Redirection plugin to create 301 redirects from your old Drupal URLs to the new WordPress URLs. This ensures that any old links to your Drupal site will automatically point to the corresponding WordPress page.

Step 8: Migrate Themes and Design

While your content is now in WordPress, the design and theme from Drupal won’t automatically transfer. You’ll need to either recreate your site’s design in WordPress or choose a new theme.

Steps:

1. Choose a theme: WordPress offers a wide range of themes. You can browse free themes under Appearance > Themes, or purchase a premium theme from sites like ThemeForest.
2. Customize the theme: Use the WordPress Customizer to adjust the theme to match your brand, changing colors, fonts, and layouts as necessary.
3. Rebuild menus and widgets: In WordPress, rebuild your navigation menus under Appearance > Menus and add widgets in Appearance > Widgets to match the previous design.

Step 9: Test Your New WordPress Site

Before going live, it’s essential to thoroughly test your new WordPress site to ensure everything works correctly.

Steps:

1. Check for missing content: Review all pages and posts to ensure nothing is missing or misformatted.
2. Test forms and functionality: If your Drupal site had forms (e.g., contact forms), test them to ensure they work in WordPress. You may need to recreate forms using a plugin like Contact Form 7.
3. Test website speed: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to ensure your new WordPress site is performing well.

Step 10: Launch Your WordPress Site

Once everything looks good, you can launch your new WordPress website.

Steps:

1. Update DNS Settings: If you’re switching hosting providers, you may need to update your DNS settings to point your domain to the new WordPress site.
2. Submit to Search Engines: Submit your new site to search engines by updating your sitemaps and re-verifying the site with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
3. Monitor for Issues: After launching, monitor your site for any potential issues with performance, broken links, or design elements that may need adjustments.

Conclusion

Migrating a Drupal website to WordPress requires a detailed approach, but with tools like the FG Drupal to WordPress plugin, the process can be straightforward. By following these steps, you can successfully move your content and customize your site for WordPress while preserving its functionality and design. Once completed, you’ll benefit from WordPress’s ease of use, scalability, and flexibility for future growth.